The present invention comprises a new class of substituted pyridine and pyridazine compounds useful in treating diseases, such as TNF-.alpha., IL-1.beta., IL-6 and/or IL-8 mediated diseases and other maladies, such as pain, cancer, and diabetes. In particular, the compounds of the invention are useful for the prophylaxis and treatment of diseases or conditions involving inflammation. This invention also relates to intermediates and processes useful in the preparation of such compounds.
Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and Tumor Necrosis Factor .alpha. (TNF-.alpha.) are pro-inflammatory cytokines secreted by a variety of cells, including monocytes and macrophages, in response to many inflammatory stimuli (e.g., lipopolysaccharide--LPS) or external cellular stress (e.g., osmotic shock and peroxide).
Elevated levels of TNF-.alpha. and/or IL-1 over basal levels have been implicated in mediating or exacerbating a number of disease states including rheumatoid arthritis; Pagets disease; osteophorosis; multiple myeloma; uveititis; acute and chronic myelogenous leukemia; pancreatic .beta. cell destruction; osteoarthritis; rheumatoid spondylitis; gouty arthritis; inflammatory bowel disease; adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); psoriasis; Crohn's disease; allergic rhinitis; ulcerative colitis; anaphylaxis; contact dermatitis; asthma; muscle degeneration; cachexia; Reiter's syndrome; type I and type II diabetes; bone resorption diseases; graft vs. host reaction; ischemia reperfusion injury; atherosclerosis; brain trauma; multiple sclerosis; cerebral malaria; sepsis; septic shock; toxic shock syndrome; fever, and myalgias due to infection. HIV-1, HIV-2, HIV-3, cytomegalovirus (CMV), influenza, adenovirus, the herpes viruses (including HSV-1, HSV-2), and herpes zoster are also exacerbated by TNF-.alpha..
It has been reported that TNF-.alpha. plays a role in head trauma, stroke, and ischemia. For instance, in animal models of head trauma (rat), TNF-.alpha. levels increased in the contused hemisphere (Shohami et al., J. Cereb. Blood Flow Metab. 14, 615 (1994)). In a rat model of ischemia wherein the middle cerebral artery was occluded, the levels of TNF-.alpha. mRNA of TNF-.alpha. increased (Feurstein et al., Neurosci. Lett. 164, 125 (1993)). Administration of TNF-.alpha. into the rat cortex has been reported to result in significant neutrophil accumulation in capillaries and adherence in small blood vessels. TNF-.alpha. promotes the infiltration of other cytokines (IL-.beta., IL-6) and also chemokines, which promote neutrophil infiltration into the infarct area (Feurstein, Stroke 25, 1481 (1994)). TNF-.alpha. has also been implicated to play a role in type II diabetes (Endocrinol. 130, 43-52, 1994; and Endocrinol. 136, 1474-1481, 1995).
TNF-.alpha. appears to play a role in promoting certain viral life cycles and disease states associated with them. For instance, TNF-.alpha. secreted by monocytes induced elevated levels of HIV expression in a chronically infected T cell clone (Clouse et al., J. Immunol. 142, 431 (1989)). Lahdevirta et al., (Am. J. Med. 85, 289 (1988)) discussed the role of TNF-.alpha. in the HIV associated states of cachexia and muscle degradation.
TNF-.alpha. is upstream in the cytokine cascade of inflammation. As a result, elevated levels of TNF-.alpha. may lead to elevated levels of other inflammatory and proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1, IL-6, and IL-8.
Elevated levels of IL-1 over basal levels have been implicated in mediating or exacerbating a number of disease states including rheumatoid arthritis; osteoarthritis; rheumatoid spondylitis; gouty arthritis; Inflammatory bowel disease; adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS); psoriasis; Crohn's disease; ulcerative colitis; anaphylaxis; muscle degeneration; cachexia; Reiter's syndrome; type I and type II diabetes; bone resorption diseases; ischemia reperfusion injury; atherosclerosis; brain trauma; multiple sclerosis; sepsis; septic shock; and toxic shock syndrome. Viruses sensitive to TNF-.alpha. inhibition, e.g., HIV-1, HIV-2, HIV-3, are also affected by IL-1.
TNF-.alpha. and IL-1 appear to play a role in pancreatic .beta. cell destruction and diabetes. Pancreatic .beta. cells produce insulin which helps mediate blood glucose homeostasis. Deterioration of pancreatic .beta. cells often accompanies type I diabetes. Pancreatic .beta. cell functional abnormalities may occur in patients with type II diabetes. Type II diabetes is characterized by a functional resistance to insulin. Further, type II diabetes is also often accompanied by elevated levels of plasma glucagon and increased rates of hepatic glucose production. Glucagon is a regulatory hormone that attenuates liver gluconeogenesis inhibition by insulin. Glucagon receptors have been found in the liver, kidney and adipose tissue. Thus glucagon antagonists are useful for attenuating plasma glucose levels (WO 97/16442, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). By antagonizing the glucagon receptors, it is thought that insulin responsiveness in the liver will improve, thereby decreasing gluconeogenesis and lowering the rate of hepatic glucose production.
In rheumatoid arthritis models in animals, multiple intra-articular injections of IL-1 have led to an acute and destructive form of arthritis (Chandrasekhar et al., Clinical Immunol Immunopathol. 55, 382 (1990)). In studies using cultured rheumatoid synovial cells, IL-1 is a more potent inducer of stromelysin than is TNF-.alpha. (Firestein, Am. J. Pathol. 140, 1309 (1992)). At sites of local injection, neutrophil, lymphocyte, and monocyte emigration has been observed. The emigration is attributed to the induction of chemokines (e.g., IL-8), and the up-regulation of adhesion molecules (Dinarello, Eur. Cytokine Netw. 5, 517-531 (1994)).
IL-1 also appears to play a role in promoting certain viral life cycles. For example, cytokine-induced increase of HIV expression in a chronically infected macrophage line has been associated with a concomitant and selective increase in IL-1 production (Folks et al., J. Immunol. 136, 40 (1986)). Beutler et al. (J. Immunol. 135, 3969 (1985)) discussed the role of IL-1 in cachexia. Baracos et al. (New Eng. J. Med. 308, 553 (1983)) discussed the role of IL-1 in muscle degeneration.
In rheumatoid arthritis, both IL-1 and TNF-.alpha. induce synoviocytes and chondrocytes to produce collagenase and neutral proteases, which leads to tissue destruction within the arthritic joints. In a model of arthritis (collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in rats and mice), intra-articular administration of TNF-.alpha. either prior to or after the induction of CIA led to an accelerated onset of arthritis and a more severe course of the disease (Brahn et al., Lymphokine Cytokine Res. 11, 253 (1992); and Cooper, Clin. Exp. Immunol. 898, 244 (1992)).
IL-8 has been implicated in exacerbating and/or causing many disease states in which massive neutrophil infiltration into sites of inflammation or injury (e.g., ischemia) is mediated by the chemotactic nature of IL-8, including, but not limited to, the following: asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, adult respiratory distress syndrome, cardiac and renal reperfusion injury, thrombosis and glomerulonephritis. In addition to the chemotaxis effect on neutrophils, IL-8 also has the ability to activate neutrophils. Thus, reduction in IL-8 levels may lead to diminished neutrophil infiltration.
Several approaches have been taken to block the effect of TNF-.alpha.. One approach involves using soluble receptors for TNF-.alpha. (e.g., TNFR-55 or TNFR-75), which have demonstrated efficacy in animal models of TNF-.alpha.-mediated disease states. A second approach to neutralizing TNF-.alpha. using a monoclonal antibody specific to TNF-.alpha., cA2, has demonstrated improvement in swollen joint count in a Phase II human trial of rheumatoid arthritis (Feldmann et al., Immunological Reviews, pp. 195-223 (1995)). These approaches block the effects of TNF-.alpha. and IL-1 by either protein sequestration or receptor antagonism.
GB 2,306,108, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes imidazole derivatives which are Raf kinase antagonists useful in the treatment of cancer which is mediated by Raf and Raf-inducable proteins. Raf proteins are kinases activated in response to extracellular mitogenic stimuli such as PDGF, EGF, acidic FGF, thrombin, insulin or endothelin, and also in response to oncoproteins such as v-src, v-sis, and v-fms. Raf functions downstream of ras in signal transduction from the cellular membrane to the nucleus. Compounds may be oncolytics through the antagonism of Raf kinase. It has been reported that antisense constructs which reduce cellular levels of c-Raf and hence Raf activity inhibit the growth of rodent fibroblasts in soft agar, while exhibiting little or no general cytotoxicity. This inhibition of growth in soft agar is highly predictive of tumor responsiveness in whole animals. Moreover, Raf antisense constructs have shown efficacy in reducing tumor burden in animals. Examples of cancers where Raf kinase is implicated by overexpression include cancers of the brain, larynx, lung, lymphatic system, urinary tract and stomach, including hystocytic lymphoma, lung adenocarcinoma and small cell lung cancers. Other examples include cancers involving overexpression of upstream activators of Raf or Raf-activating oncogenes, including pancreatic and breast carcinoma.
GB 1,238,959 describes 3- or 4-(hetero)aryl substituted pyridine and pyridone compounds useful in the treatment of inflammation.
WO 98/03484 describes 2-(substituted phenyl or pyridinyl)-3-(4-(methylsulfonyl, aminosulfonyl, trifluorocarbonylaminosulfonyl or methylaminosulfonyl)phenyl-pyridine compounds useful in the treatment of COX-2 mediated diseases.
WO 96/24584 describes 2,3-di(hetero)aryl substituted pyridine compounds, wherein one of such (hetero)aryl substitutents is a phenyl radical substituted with an alkylsulfonyl, aminosulfonyl or haloalkylsulfonyl radical, useful as anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antipyretic agents.